Our Celebrity cruise left from Vancouver. If possible, I'd always suggest having your travel agent get you to a port at least a day ahead of your cruise departure just in case you encounter any flight problems. Now I know there are never any flight cancellations (yeh, right!) , but, just in case, it sure eases my mind to know a little flight delay will not make me miss my cruise. My wife, Sharon, and I went to Vancouver two days ahead of time to explore the area.
Vancouver is a large city (about 2 mil) on the coast and has a new, cosmopolitan but "out- doorsey" feel. Being on the water, near the mountains, with a lot of parks made me feel like I should be jogging or hiking. Yet, the downtown has new skyscrapers with good shopping, great restaurants, and fun entertainment. We stayed in the West End area which is within walking distance of a lot of food, entertainment, and shopping. We walked to Gastown, their historic area, which features a lot of "pubs" and jazz entertainment. Seems like this Northwest area has a lot of micro-breweries, so my wife had to try them all (or was that me? I forget). The city also has a large Asian population with the biggest "Chinatown" in Canada. That also equates to good oriental food!
Sharon and I explored two other Vancouver city areas that I would recommend. Taking a city bus from the West End we went to Granville Island. Don't know if this is an actual island, but it is an area down by the river that has been refurbished with a lot of restaurants, micro-breweries (for my wife!), a great market (fresh vegetables, fruits, fish, meats, crafts, etc.) and fun entertainment. A nice place to stroll around and spend an evening (and take a cab home!).
We also walked from our West End hotel to Stanley Park; the crown jewel of Vancouver parks. Stanley Park is a huge natural area (like Central Park, NYC) that has horse-drawn carriage rides, miles of foot trails, seawall walking and biking trails, with picnic areas; you get the picture. There are also shuttle buses rounding the park. You can get on and off at stops throughout the park and visit their restaurants, totem pole exhibit, scenic overlooks, etc. Very relaxing way to be outdoors. Again, Vancouver, with a lot of parks, seems centered around the out of doors.
The next day, we took the Sea Bus across the bay toward the mountains. Earlier we had purchased a two day bus pass that also included transportation on this ferry. This area north of Vancouver has a lot of nice residential areas (you notice how well flowers grow in this mild climate), but we headed to two other attractions; Capilano Park and a salmon hatchery. A bus (again, pre-paid) took us from the dock to Capilano. The park, in the tall pines and hemlocks, has an exhibit about the old logging days, but the main attractions are its suspension bridge and tree top tour.
The suspension walking bridge is 450 feet long and hangs about 230 feet above a river. Traversing the "two lane" bridge with people walking both ways is a cool experience that becomes more "exciting" when kids start it swaying! Actually, the park rangers are real good at stopping these shenanigans. Once on the other side, there are paths to walk the woods. If you so desire, there is the Tree Top Adventure. The Adventure is a series of suspended foot bridges that goes from tree to tree throughout the park with "tree houses" at the junctions. At times you are 100 feet above the foot paths. Pretty unique.
A half mile up the road from Capilano is a salmon hatchery. It has the normal exhibits and tanks with various size fish, but what I found interesting was the fish ladder. The "ladder" is a series of stepped tanks that allow salmon, that are migrating up stream to spawn, a way to get around an obstruction in a stream like a dam. At the hatchery the fish ladder has windows into the tanks. Here, you can see the salmon pooling in the various tanks until they get enough courage to make the jump up to the next higher tank. Tough to get the timing right to photograph the jump, though.
With only two days in Vancouver, that's about all Sharon & I could accomplish before boarding our ship (cool ship terminal!). Two things we had wanted to do were a day trip north to Whistler (winter & summer resort area and part of Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics) and a ferry ride over to Vancouver Island and the town of Victoria. Maybe next time. Remember to Live the World!
Vancouver is a large city (about 2 mil) on the coast and has a new, cosmopolitan but "out- doorsey" feel. Being on the water, near the mountains, with a lot of parks made me feel like I should be jogging or hiking. Yet, the downtown has new skyscrapers with good shopping, great restaurants, and fun entertainment. We stayed in the West End area which is within walking distance of a lot of food, entertainment, and shopping. We walked to Gastown, their historic area, which features a lot of "pubs" and jazz entertainment. Seems like this Northwest area has a lot of micro-breweries, so my wife had to try them all (or was that me? I forget). The city also has a large Asian population with the biggest "Chinatown" in Canada. That also equates to good oriental food!
Sharon and I explored two other Vancouver city areas that I would recommend. Taking a city bus from the West End we went to Granville Island. Don't know if this is an actual island, but it is an area down by the river that has been refurbished with a lot of restaurants, micro-breweries (for my wife!), a great market (fresh vegetables, fruits, fish, meats, crafts, etc.) and fun entertainment. A nice place to stroll around and spend an evening (and take a cab home!).
We also walked from our West End hotel to Stanley Park; the crown jewel of Vancouver parks. Stanley Park is a huge natural area (like Central Park, NYC) that has horse-drawn carriage rides, miles of foot trails, seawall walking and biking trails, with picnic areas; you get the picture. There are also shuttle buses rounding the park. You can get on and off at stops throughout the park and visit their restaurants, totem pole exhibit, scenic overlooks, etc. Very relaxing way to be outdoors. Again, Vancouver, with a lot of parks, seems centered around the out of doors.
The next day, we took the Sea Bus across the bay toward the mountains. Earlier we had purchased a two day bus pass that also included transportation on this ferry. This area north of Vancouver has a lot of nice residential areas (you notice how well flowers grow in this mild climate), but we headed to two other attractions; Capilano Park and a salmon hatchery. A bus (again, pre-paid) took us from the dock to Capilano. The park, in the tall pines and hemlocks, has an exhibit about the old logging days, but the main attractions are its suspension bridge and tree top tour.
The suspension walking bridge is 450 feet long and hangs about 230 feet above a river. Traversing the "two lane" bridge with people walking both ways is a cool experience that becomes more "exciting" when kids start it swaying! Actually, the park rangers are real good at stopping these shenanigans. Once on the other side, there are paths to walk the woods. If you so desire, there is the Tree Top Adventure. The Adventure is a series of suspended foot bridges that goes from tree to tree throughout the park with "tree houses" at the junctions. At times you are 100 feet above the foot paths. Pretty unique.
A half mile up the road from Capilano is a salmon hatchery. It has the normal exhibits and tanks with various size fish, but what I found interesting was the fish ladder. The "ladder" is a series of stepped tanks that allow salmon, that are migrating up stream to spawn, a way to get around an obstruction in a stream like a dam. At the hatchery the fish ladder has windows into the tanks. Here, you can see the salmon pooling in the various tanks until they get enough courage to make the jump up to the next higher tank. Tough to get the timing right to photograph the jump, though.
With only two days in Vancouver, that's about all Sharon & I could accomplish before boarding our ship (cool ship terminal!). Two things we had wanted to do were a day trip north to Whistler (winter & summer resort area and part of Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics) and a ferry ride over to Vancouver Island and the town of Victoria. Maybe next time. Remember to Live the World!
No comments:
Post a Comment